Zephyrous

aimanirrajim

this is a thought that has been playing in my mind for quite awhile. i realized darkthrone started to suck after panzerfaust, which is the last(?) album he appeared in. perhaps zephyrous was the true genius behind darkthrone? whats he doing now? discuss?

i remember reading an interview somewhere fenriz stated that transilvanian hunger was composed by himself while zephyrous made all of panzerfaust. after that he left and the band actually split up then reformed with just the two. and obviously they have totally lost the vision from that point on..so yeah maybe zephyrous sensed what was going to happen and ran for the hills...

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aimanirrajim

oh, i know, i know..! perhaps after he ran off ildjarn ate him in the forest! begging? with all the social benefits norway has? c'mon... i still think its weird that darkthrone suddenly sucked after he left. oh well.

"At this point Zephyrous became the next line-up casualty, leaving shortly after 'Under a Funeral Moon' and reducing Darkthrone to the two-piece band they've remained ever since."

Fenriz: "Yeah, but it wasn't like he suddenly showed up at my door one time and said, "I'm leaving." The whole band drifted apart. I think we had managed to become pretty fucked up in our lifestyle, but I think it was inevitable because of the energy we put into those two albums, 'A Blaze in the Northern Sky' and 'Under a Funeral Moon. I think it took its toll."

Nocturno: "Yeah, Zephyrous left a bit after, I think it was in 1993 or something. We had a long kind of break, really, and I guess Zephyrous and I were more busy getting drunk and trying to ruin our lives. I think one of the things that made him leave the band was his own health, really. Still, when we have to make a big choice for Darkthrone, Fenriz and I always say, 'what would Zephyrous think? What would Zephyrous do about this?' because he's a very strict guy and he doesn't even use one calorie on annoying himself about things that really don't matter."

From the 'Preparing for War' liner notes which are an interview with Fenriz, Ted, and Hammy from Peaceville.

"At this point Zephyrous became the next line-up casualty, leaving shortly after 'Under a Funeral Moon' and reducing Darkthrone to the two-piece band they've remained ever since."

Fenriz: "Yeah, but it wasn't like he suddenly showed up at my door one time and said, "I'm leaving." The whole band drifted apart. I think we had managed to become pretty fucked up in our lifestyle, but I think it was inevitable because of the energy we put into those two albums, 'A Blaze in the Northern Sky' and 'Under a Funeral Moon. I think it took its toll."

Nocturno: "Yeah, Zephyrous left a bit after, I think it was in 1993 or something. We had a long kind of break, really, and I guess Zephyrous and I were more busy getting drunk and trying to ruin our lives. I think one of the things that made him leave the band was his own health, really. Still, when we have to make a big choice for Darkthrone, Fenriz and I always say, 'what would Zephyrous think? What would Zephyrous do about this?' because he's a very strict guy and he doesn't even use one calorie on annoying himself about things that really don't matter."

From the 'Preparing for War' liner notes which are an interview with Fenriz, Ted, and Hammy from Peaceville.

Very nice find. I never knew much about the man myself, but obviously, much like the inertia that crippled most bands after "breaking up," Darkthrone lost their magic... their intrinsic lust for musical adventure, after Transilvanian Hunger. Panzerfaust in itself is alright, but afterwards they fell into artistic stagnation and irrelevance.

That's probably the most informative Darkthrone interview I've read. They also discuss a bit about their demo era in the late 80's which doesn't get talked about nearly as much as it should, considering their death metal was second only to Morbid Angel in 1989, not to mention the epic speed metal of their 1988 'New Dimension' demo.

Also thought it was interesting that Transylvanian Hunger was written and recorded pretty much on a whim over two weeks after Zephyrous left, in contrast to lots of time, effort, rehearsing, etc. for 'A Blaze in the Northern Sky,' and 'Under a Funeral Moon.' I'll type the whole thing up if several people are actually interested in reading it.